Most Disappointing Game of 2024

VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "In a year that was to a large extent carried by the game developers of Japan (and to some extent China), western games can rejoice that there was at least one category they managed to dominate: that of Most Disappointing. Sometimes disappointment comes from high expectations met with something middling, other times it comes from middling expectations met with something terrible. This year managed to deliver a bit of both, so either way there was enough disappointment to go around."

[thorstein]

Why not mention the 19,000 Steam games of which 80% weren't good enough to merit "success" on the platform?

[RaidenBlack]

You gotta be effing kidding me with that logic.

[coolbeans]

Because the very *definition* of disappointment requires one has some kind of expectation for it. Concord was hoping to find its own niche in the crowded 'hero shooter' market, with ~8 years of development, $100 million+ funding, and marketable talent behind it, and went belly up in 2 lousy weeks. That's historical for a live-service game.

[thorstein]

It's become a drinking game at this point. Disappointing games? It's the same games in every article with a similar title. Does no one have an original thought anymore?

[RaidenBlack]

@thorstein
**It's the same games in every article with a similar title.**
Because it's the same year? The games that got launched is a constant fact for everyone. And if the game was universally disappointing, then obviously everyone would echo the same thing.
Do you want for originality some writer would write up that instead of Concord and Outlaws, Silent Hills 2 was the most disappointing game, right? Coz, that'd be considered a click-bait article then.
And emphasis on the word "disappointing" games, not general bad games.

[LordoftheCritics]

Veilguard was easily the most disappointing game of the year.
Highest expectation with Highest disappointment

Concord was just the biggest failure.
In fact it was not very disappointing.
Almost as expected.

[DivineHand125]

@LordoftheCritics I disagree about Vailguard being the most disappointing game of the year. Going into the launch of that game, 90% of the comments I was seeing from this community were negative. Many also wanted the game to fail.

In my opinion, for a game to be disappointing, it would mean the game was highly anticipated for success going into the launch of the game only to bomb in the reviews and fail commercially.

I would say Hellblade 2 claims this title. I haven't played any of the games in the series as yet, however, the hate that game received was on another level. I am not sure if it was fanboys that felt threatened by it being the best-looking console game on the market or if the criticisms about it being a boring game were valid. I haven't played these walking games before so put it off since it doesn't seem to be my cup of tea.

[anast]

Those 19,000 games have 80%. Dragon age is sitting at 70%, Star wars is at 75% and falling, Lego Horizon adventures is at 56%, Skull and Bones 65% and Concord was DOA. This would mean these games didn't even crack the top 19,000.

[DivineHand125]

.

[badboyz09]

#1 Dragon Age

[LordoftheCritics]

Yup

Decade long expectation

[P_Bomb]

Replace Lego with Hellblade. I’ve never seen any Lego game get substantial hype. Hellblade on the other hand cost me two Game Pass rentals and I still couldn’t finish it. 😴

[chicken_in_the_corn]

Skull and Bones for me.

[TheColbertinator]

Veilguard was fine in my opinion. Some characters are annoying yes but the game holds up well enough.

[RiseNShine]

Veilguard is not the most disappointing game of 2024, is the most disappointing game of the decade, i can't think of another game from an incredibly popular and loved franchise to fail so hard. To put it in perspective, there're 5 times more people playing The Witcher 3 today, a 10 year old game, than DA Veilguard, a 4 month old game (25k players vs 5k players). That says it all.

[Armaggedon]

That does bot say it all. It does say that you are cherry picking though

[RiseNShine]

Why exactly? Both Witcher and Dragon Age are RPGs, well loved/popular franchises and AAA games, i find it hard to get a closer comparison than that.

[Armaggedon]

@RiseNShine

Because I am sure you can find examples of other rpgs that are considered good and are newer, surpassed by the witcher in player count. The same can also be said for a game surpassing the witcher in player count. Numbers dont tell the whole truth, there are always hidden variables.

[DivineHand125]

You played the game?

[Armaggedon]

I told people that veilguard was just googling to be inquisition 2.0

[DafunkyRebel]

As a huge DA Origins fan, I felt like Veilguard was a huge slap in the face. The incompetent, pestilent, arrogance developers who helm it completely ruined the franchised and destroyed the fandom. EA needs to clean house and started vetting their hirings to weed out activists before their company gets completely destroyed

[DivineHand125]

It would have been hard for Dragon Age Vailguard to set the internet on fire like Elden Ring did because of the hate from the people who were influenced by conservative podcasts. Bioware is also not as unique today as they once were because many games have caught up in terms of gameplay and storytelling.

[MrDead]

I was told tto think that Vailguard was the most disappointing game by a collection of online incels pushing propaganda that has links to the Heritage Foundation and Prageru.

I only listen to people who bleed from the face and live with dead rats to form my opinions

[Firebird360]

For me, Dragon Age.
Huge fan of the series.
I was uninterested after the first reveal and saw the graphics then upon release saw the forced direction of degenerate ideology.
I'm all for inclusion but not ideology pushing an agenda for the sole reason of said agenda.

[MrDead]

What ideology?

DA:O one of your first choices as a human noble is to sleep with the same sex.

[Firebird360]

Key word there, choice.

[MrDead]

So what's the difference? You get the choice in DA:V to interact or not too as well.

Do you have the same issue with Baldur's gate 3 too as that game has what DA:Vs got but far, far, more graphic and in your face?

[wesnytsfs]

Sorta funny, No one wanted Concorde sure it was the biggest fail in gaming this year but to say disappointing is a stretch since no one wanted it.